That means that the group responsible for developing hardware including the Surface tablet, Xbox and other products will also be building the Windows operating system.

The merged division will be called the ‘Windows and Devices Group (WDG)’ and is “focused on enabling more personal computing experiences powered by the Windows ecosystem.”

The move is a sizable one, throwing further weight behind Microsoft’s ambitions to continue create its own hardware lines rather than simply relying on its OEM partners to build the right devices.

There’s a few questions lingering after today’s announcement: what does this mean for the seemingly stagnant Lumia phone lineup? Will the Microsoft Surface continue as it is already? Does this signal a new Windows strategy?

We’ve been told that this change doesn’t have any impact for the current Windows lineup and there is “nothing more to announce” about the fate of Lumia or other Microsoft hardware.